They are relics of days long gone, special keepsakes from America's pastime. And they were tucked away for years inside a Delray Beach man's house. Then Fran Marincola decided they needed to be shared. He started donating the things from his baseball collection — signed photographs and magazine covers, Mickey Mantle's 1954 contract and, most recently, one of the iconic Yankees slugger's watches — to the Delray Beach Public Library. "I figured, let some other people look at it," said Marincola, owner of Caffe Luna Rosa.

LAUDERHILL -- While a resident of the 1700 block of Northwest 56th Terrace was downstairs with friends, a burglar entered through an open sliding glass door on the second floor of the townhouse, the Broward Sheriff`s Office said. The burglary occurred about 11 p.m. on Friday. Later, when the resident went upstairs, she discovered that someone had stolen a purse, about $20, a movie camera and projector, a Polaroid camera, and a lamp, the report said. The value of the stolen items was estimated at $1,125, the Sheriff`s Office said.

The way Mike saw it: The bigwigs up in corporate thought we were burning the midnight oil and working too hard, so they sent us to check out N Spa at the Delray Beach Marriott, 10 N. Ocean Blvd. We were given a guided tour from the very knowledgeable Celeste Gregorio - now that sounds like the name of a woman who is a spa guru. We started with the bottom floor, which consisted of makeup stations and rooms for pedicures and manicures. Dave stopped and stared at the makeup station. See, it was a hot afternoon and his favorite color, fawn, was starting to run down his face because he was sweating.

If you live above the ground floor, you may forget that someone below might be trying to read, sleep or watch TV. When upstairs neighbors forget, life becomes miserable for those downstairs. Tile floors are the chief culprit. Although cork padding can be installed between tile and the floor, most associations don't require it and most owners don't want the expense of buying it. But problems exist even in apartments with carpeting. After moving into her ground-floor Coconut Creek unit recently, a retiree noticed that everytime her upstairs neighbor walked, she heard footsteps.

This new establishment surely is bound for success with its location at the Riverfront Marina, a telephone number that ends in FISH, a two-story spread of indoor-outdoor eating, an all-American Indian brave as a logo, and an owner- manager who worked his way up from the Marina Bay New River Storehouse and a Japanese restaurant out west and was part of the Takeyama-Mackle team. At Shirttail Charlie`s, boaters arrive and can be served on board; others stay on the docks, while those who come by car wander casually inside the open first deck to find a place in or out of the sun, or go upstairs where the feeling is slightly more formal.

There are many successful Italian-American restaurants in South Florida, and Nick`s (short for Dominick`s) is one of my favorites. He has demonstrated, vividly and vibrantly, that if you build a better pizza, the world will beat a path to your door. Location is also important and that Nick certainly has -- two blocks north of Oakland Park Boulevard on A1A. Timing is also important -- as in hours of operation. Nick`s keeps the pizza ovens open until 4 a.m., and he delivers until 4 a.m. So the next time you get a severe attack of the hungries in the wee hours, call Nick`s and order a special thin shell or white or vegetarian or my favorite, the spinach- ricotta-mozzarella ($10.

Favorite South Florida entertainers don`t just fade away -- sooner or later they come to Fort Lauderdale and perform in the upstairs lounge at Snuffy`s. Snuffy`s, once known as O`Reilly`s and the Brickyard East, has not changed drastically through the years. Downstairs, it still resembles an English pub, complete with fireplace. A single guitarist usually performs here, playing mellow rock and standards. Pianist/comedian Woody Woodbury and singer Tony Chance each have been at Upstairs during the past few seasons.

Enter Tolivers through the wrong portal, and you may think you`re in the wrong place. Where are the baby grand pianos? And who are these people raising their voices to be heard? They don`t seem eager to get an earful of dual pianists performing songs by Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter or George Gershwin. Don`t stop, however. Keep going. Walk through the door and continue down the hallway. Fine, you say, this room is a little better. But this area resembles a family-oriented restaurant. See the salad bar?

Upstairs, life was all tea and scones, satin and silver, feather boas and fancy dress balls. Downstairs, it was dust and grime, pots and pans, cramped quarters and 18-hour days. It was that way 100 years ago in Britain's great mansions, and it's that way again in Manor House. Like the British 1900 House and the American Frontier House, which aired in 2000 and 2002, this miniseries is reality television, PBS-style: no prizes, no viewer voting -- just a slice of social history served up by learned experts and eager amateurs.

The People UpStairs play 11 p.m. Aug. 11 at Swampgrass Willy's (9910 Alt. A1A, Palm Beach Gardens; 561-625-1555). After police officers frequently made trips to a Boynton Beach loft above a plumbing store where five high school friends practiced until early morning, singer Casey Buckley said, "they began to refer to us as 'the people upstairs' and the name stuck." Together since 2002, the funk/reggae band has played City Link Music Fest, Moonfest and more. "Our sound is created by a driving bass and funking guitar . . . heavy drums and percussive, allowing for almost every number to be danceable," Buckley said.

The elevator at Connie Ross' condo stopped working for the third time in two months. Each time, it took a week to repair. "I couldn't go to church. I couldn't go to the store. I couldn't go to a restaurant. I couldn't go anyplace," said Ross, 86, who lives on the third floor of the Pompano Yacht & Beach Club and for health reasons can't use the stairs. "I was a prisoner in that condo," she said. Breakdowns have become more frequent as condos built in the '60s, '70s and '80s age. Kelley B. Fagan, 41, lives on the ninth floor of the 147-unit Manors of Inverrary in Lauderhill.

For the past five years, the People Upstairs have been bringing their funkadelic, feel-good tunes to venues all over South Florida. But their most memorable gig wasn't playing in a bar. It was performing behind bars. "One of our coolest concerts was this past fall at South Dade Correctional Facility," said Casey Buckley, lead singer of the five-member group. "We played before a crowd of 1,500. It was a very humbling experience. The most appreciative crowd we've ever played for. Afterwards, we stood there for a half hour, shaking hands."

Army Sgt. Julio Negron, 28, Pompano Beach, died Feb. 28, 2005 "When I think about my brother-in-law, when I think about him, I think about all the soldiers. We can't be selfish and just think about our Tito. ... "It's going on a year and a half and it hurts just as much as it did the night that they came and knocked on our door. We hate every Monday night. That was the night that they came, and we were about to go upstairs to bed when they knocked on the door." Mildred Negron, 46, sister-in-law

Citing a "he-said, she-said situation," the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office on Friday said it won't pursue a case against New Age instrumentalist Yanni, who was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge last month. Silvia Barthes, 33, told police that Yanni, whose legal name is John Yanni Christopher, struck her as he ordered her from his $7.75 million home after an argument. Not so, said Orlando Gonzalez, the musician's lawyer. Barthes, a Bolivian who lives in Miami Beach, approached Yanni about moving into his waterfront home as they were driving home from dinner, Gonzalez said.

Time for a history fix? Time for your first (or 50th) trip into Florida's Spanish past? Think St. Augustine. You can hopscotch around the hucksterism and hone in on the authentic survivors, the oh-so-carefully restored reminders of the nation's oldest city, settled by the Spanish 55 years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. Later, the forces of Henry Morrison Flagler invaded, building magnificent and masterfully imagined Spanish Renaissance palaces. They built well, and their memories remain in perfect examples of adaptive restoration.

WEST PALM BEACH -- Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue workers estimate that a fire in a two-story house caused about $25,000 in damages Wednesday afternoon. Russell Bradford was downstairs in his home in the 5600 block of Mary Lane when he heard a loud pop upstairs, saw smoke and ran outside, fire officials said. The fire, which began in one of the three upstairs bedrooms, gutted a room and caused considerable smoke and water damage, fire officials said. They said they are investigating the fire but do not suspect arson.

BOCA RATON -- A woman who heard footsteps upstairs in her home went up to investigate and scared away a burglar who stole jewelry from the bedroom on Wednesday while her husband was asleep. According to police reports, the woman heard a noise about 9 p.m. and went upstairs. When she turned on the light, she saw a man jump off the second- floor balcony and run away. Officers who answered the call said the man climbed up to the second floor, where he cut a screen and unlocked a second-floor screen door to gain entry to the home in the 800 block of Southwest 22nd Street.

Last month, I wrote somewhat critically of the trendy. "Hip," I said, "is a landlocked country with a strict visa policy and a small population of fashionable peasants." A few weeks after writing the column, but two days before it ran, I got a visa. It came in the form of an invitation to the grand opening of the Hotel Victor in South Beach. I accepted, of course; South Beach openings being as alien to me as Padaung harvest rituals. Two large bubbles were parked on Ocean Drive, one encasing a couple in a bath, the other a couple in a bed. A crowd of rubberneckers lined the sidewalk, held back by barricades.

Q. Our 9-year-old son has developed a tremendous fear of dying. He's so afraid that most days he cannot pass from afternoon to night without tears. He has trouble going to sleep in his own bed, will not go upstairs or downstairs at night without being escorted, and pleads with us to stay upstairs while he's in the shower. His paternal grandmother died about five years ago and our dog died last Christmas Eve. Other than that, no one very close to our son has died. We've talked with him about dying, God and Jesus, and assured him that there awaits a beautiful heaven and that with God's grace, he will go there when he's a very old man. We've taken him to see our parish priest and to a counselor.